Salon.com > sunday morning showshttp://www.salon.com
Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:00:00 +0000enhourly1Sunday shows’ climate disgrace: Cluelessness and false balance could cost liveshttp://www.salon.com/2014/02/19/sunday_shows_climate_disgrace_cluelessness_and_false_balance_could_cost_lives/
http://www.salon.com/2014/02/19/sunday_shows_climate_disgrace_cluelessness_and_false_balance_could_cost_lives/#commentsWed, 19 Feb 2014 12:44:00 +0000bzeffhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13605681Now that the East Coast and parts of the Southern U.S. have been battered over and over again with extreme weather this winter, and while California is in the midst of its worst and longest drought on historical record, the Sunday "news" shows, all at once, decided this week to cover what they describe as "climate change" -- or, in the words of NBC's "Meet the Press" host, David Gregory, "The Politics of Weather."

]]>http://www.salon.com/2014/01/12/5_clips_you_missed_sunday_show_round_up/feed/7Sunday show roundup: Five clips you missedhttp://www.salon.com/2013/12/08/sunday_show_roundup_five_clips_you_missed/
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/08/sunday_show_roundup_five_clips_you_missed/#commentsSun, 08 Dec 2013 20:11:00 +0000nlennardhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13552542Before the holiday adjournment, a number of Congress members held forth on the short-term budget deal due to be reached before the end of the year. Meanwhile talking heads weighed in on Nelson Mandela's legacy. Rand Paul also suggests that offering jobless individuals extended benefits would be a "disservice."

On Fox News Sunday, Rand spoke against extending benefits to the jobless beyond 26 weeks. 1.3 million long-term jobless Americans will lose federal benefits if Congress fails to reauthorize the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. "I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they're paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers," said the libertarian, espousing a typically misplaced faith in the free market as a just terrain. MSNBC's Meredith Clark noted in response to the Kentucky Republican:

While Paul cited a study that suggested employers are less likely to hire workers who have been unemployed for many months, other studies have found that long-term benefits do not keep workers from seeking and finding employment. There are still approximately five workers for every open job, and the economy would need to add 8 million jobs to get back to pre-recession levels.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/12/08/sunday_show_roundup_five_clips_you_missed/feed/4Sunday shows: 5 clips you missedhttp://www.salon.com/2013/09/08/sunday_shows_5_clips_you_missed_4/
http://www.salon.com/2013/09/08/sunday_shows_5_clips_you_missed_4/#commentsSun, 08 Sep 2013 18:22:00 +0000pguptahttp://www.salon.com/?p=13471453Congress will soon make a decision on whether to pursue military intervention in Syria. The Sunday morning talk shows debated the various options and outcomes:

PBS's Charlie Rose nabbed an interview with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad this morning, first announced on CBS's "Face the Nation." Rose, talking via telephone from Beirut, Lebanon, said that Assad denied responsibility for the chemical attack. The interview will air on "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS Monday night:

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, who made the rounds on the morning shows to present a case for intervention, responded to Rose's comments, saying that "The question then for Congress…is should there be consequences for someone who has used these terrible weapons to gas and to kill more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, and what should those consequences be?"

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/09/08/sunday_shows_5_clips_you_missed_4/feed/8Sunday shows: What you missedhttp://www.salon.com/2013/07/28/sunday_shows_what_you_missed_4/
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/28/sunday_shows_what_you_missed_4/#commentsSun, 28 Jul 2013 17:30:00 +0000bzeffhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13385963The nation, at another turning point: Surveillance, spying, everywhere. The latest threat of government shutdown, or debt default. Egypt, a death state. The middle class in tatters. And mayoral penises, everywhere, baring themselves. Let's watch ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press," and CBS' "Face the Nation" solve all of these things in 90 minutes.

First up is "This Week," leading the nation - nay, the world - with the globe's most important geopolitical issue, something that could turn paradigm into new paradigm, epoch into epoch: this guy in New York City who sent photos of his penis to some random gals on the internet. A correspondent gives us the update on this shameful, shameful man, the worst man of all time, barely even a "man" in the traditional sense. "We'll have more at the roundtable," Stephanopoulos says.

The Zimmerman verdict is topic No. 1 on "This Week." The Martin family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, and selected others are interviewed, expressing their personal grief and that of those they represent. All very sad.

But now -- now it's time for a political panel on the Zimmerman verdict. Phew! Should the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department proceed with an investigation? White guy who edits the Wall Street Journal editorial page says no, give me a break. Tavis Smiley, however, says that this verdict is a reminder of the "contempt" that much of the country has for "black men." Back to a white guy, Dan Abrams, ha ha. Is he dying his hair, or is it his entire body that's encrusted in sparkly gold? He says "what's wrong in our society?" is a fair question to ask, but what happened in that courtroom is completely understandable. Smiley disagrees because, c'mon, Abrams, that's such a cop-out. Pierre Thomas, the ABC legal news correspondent, believes there should be a National Conversation on Race about how young black men are stereotyped. "It's 2013." Man, is it ever.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/07/14/sunday_shows_what_you_missed_3/feed/9Sunday shows: What you missedhttp://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/sunday_shows_what_you_missed/
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/sunday_shows_what_you_missed/#commentsSun, 23 Jun 2013 16:46:00 +0000bzeffhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13333592This week, on a Breaking News! edition of the Sunday shows: Where is Edward Snowden right now? (He's on a plane to Moscow.) Where will Edward Snowden be going next, then? He's fast, Edward Snowden. And the most important question of all: should Glenn Greenwald go to jail for having Edward Snowden as a source, and also for having an annoying tone sometimes? ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press," and CBS' "Face the Nation" will solve these questions, and more.

First up, "This Week": Fast Eddie Snowden is hot on the move. How does he keep "bedeviling" US officials like this? It's a "cat-and-mouse game," and the U.S. "lost this round," says the breaking news correspondent.

Host George Stephanopoulos is now talking to Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the NSA. Mister General, Stephanopoulos asks, how did you let this guy out of Hawaii in the first place? Alexander is mentioning 9/11 and how Edward Snowden is making us vulnerable. "We are now putting in place systems" to track those with high-level security clearances. For example: "We've changed our passwords." Good luck, hackers.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/sunday_shows_what_you_missed/feed/28Sunday shows solve Syria and government surveillance!http://www.salon.com/2013/06/16/sunday_shows_solve_syria_and_government_surveillance/
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/16/sunday_shows_solve_syria_and_government_surveillance/#commentsSun, 16 Jun 2013 18:30:00 +0000bzeffhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13327174Today on the Sunday Shows: War in Syria. The U.S. arming "the rebels." The Surveillance State. A world of terror, danger, chaos and impending doom. And so ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press" and CBS' "Face the Nation" will seek to answer the metaquestion: Are you proud of us, Daddy?

First, and solely because it starts a half-hour earlier than the other shows, we'll check out "This Week," where Jonathan Karl is substituting for George Stephanopoulos. "Is the U.S. going to get involved in another war in the Middle East?" Always, Jonathan Karl, always. Let's see what Marco Rubio has to say.

Rubio, a war-friendly Republican, says that President Obama blew it by waiting so long to get involved in Syria. (Assuming this really is the broad change in strategy it's been billed as.) Now who are we giving arms to? Al-Qaida "elements." What would President Rubio have done? Karl asks. Well, Rubio never would have allowed it to get to this point, of course. If Rubio were president, Syria would be a sunny democratic Utopia already, because he would have managed it so perfectly, you just have no idea how perfectly President Rubio would have done things.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/06/16/sunday_shows_solve_syria_and_government_surveillance/feed/29Sunday Shows meet Glenn Greenwald!http://www.salon.com/2013/06/09/sunday_shows_meet_glenn_greenwald/
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/09/sunday_shows_meet_glenn_greenwald/#commentsSun, 09 Jun 2013 18:30:00 +0000bzeffhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13320420Welcome to your recap of this week's "Sunday shows," where the hot topic is how the government has access to everyone's phone and Facebook and video sex chats all the time, EVERYONE FREAK OUT, NOW. We'll be watching ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press" and CBS' "Face the Nation," and yes, in that priority order.

"This Week" promises to be a grand old time, as some producer has let civil liberties reporter and commentator Glenn"zilla" Greenwald on national television again to scorch the earth. Greenwald, of course, has been the lead reporter behind a number of top-secret leakreportsthis week.

"You are really on a roll," George Stephanopoulos congratulates Greenwald, of "the Guardian newspaper." (Full disclosure: I am a contributor to the Guardian U.S.) What are the key findings of your stories this week? Greenwald, talking super-fast to get it all in, has two. From the transcript:

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/06/09/sunday_shows_meet_glenn_greenwald/feed/75Watching the Sunday shows so you don’t have tohttp://www.salon.com/2013/06/02/watching_the_sunday_shows_so_you_dont_have_to_2/
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/02/watching_the_sunday_shows_so_you_dont_have_to_2/#commentsSun, 02 Jun 2013 17:28:00 +0000kmcdonoughhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13315345Welcome to this week's Funday Shows recap, a look at all the hot chatter on NBC's Meet the Press, CBS's Face the Nation, and ABC's This Week. The topics under discussion this week include: Is Eric Holder the worst human being in history? Has he killed off any remaining semblance of Freedom of the Press in this country? Why aren't we bombing Syria yet? Are IRS employees dancing too much, and are we not going out of our way to humiliate them enough?

"SUNDAY SHOWDOWN!" George Stephanopoulos greets us, to open This Week. It's a political consultant versus another political consultant! Whose talking points will win? "Let's get right to it" with David Plouffe versus Karl Rove, before you even have time to run to the bathroom. Arianna Huffington, Gwen Ifill and the WSJ editorial page's Paul Gigot watch from the other side of the table.

Stephanopoulos shows poll numbers that indicate the public doesn't especially care about any of The Scandals, today's hot lead. Forty-four percent find the IRS targeting scandal the most important, however. And Karl Rove says if you look "inside the numbers," the public is still very unhappy with the economy. And the IRS collects taxes from the economy, so there you go: biggest scandal ever, searingly pertinent to all.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/06/02/watching_the_sunday_shows_so_you_dont_have_to_2/feed/19Sunday show roundup: disaster aid, drone debateshttp://www.salon.com/2013/05/26/sunday_show_roundup_disaster_aid_drone_debates/
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/26/sunday_show_roundup_disaster_aid_drone_debates/#commentsSun, 26 May 2013 19:48:00 +0000nlennardhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13309675Following President Obama's Thursday speech, which promised in platitudes a new, more focused phase of the War on Terror, had talking heads yapping Sunday. The Sunday shows also touched upon disaster relief aid in the wake of this week's deadly tornado in Oklahoma.

Lethal drones:

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a typically unbearable politician, once again stepped admirably up to bat in critiquing U.S. lethal drone strike policy. (Although again, Paul's concerns extended only to Americans' rights and not foreign civilian casualties). He told ABC's "This Week" that while the president's comments could mark a step in the right direction, more needs to be clarified regarding due process, legal standards and justifications. "A lot of what's very important to myself and others is what the law says, and how you should approach this,” Paul said.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/05/26/sunday_show_roundup_disaster_aid_drone_debates/feed/4Sunday morning show round-up: More talk about Benghazi talking pointshttp://www.salon.com/2013/05/12/sunday_morning_show_round_up_more_talk_about_benghazi_talking_points/
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/12/sunday_morning_show_round_up_more_talk_about_benghazi_talking_points/#commentsSun, 12 May 2013 16:43:00 +0000kmcdonoughhttp://www.salon.com/?p=13296549The Benghazi talking points were (still) the talk of the morning with the Sunday politico set, bringing in Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and others to discuss the revisions made to the Obama Administration's talking points following the Benghazi attack. (Controversy, sure. Cover up? Well, not really.)

Meet the Press

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa tells "Meet the Press" that Hillary Clinton is "not a target" of the Benghazi probe that seems to be, you know, targeting the former Secretary of State. More from NBC News:

The big three Sunday Shows were all very budget-focused today, and on each of them everyone competed to be the most Serious about Balancing the Budget, which is obviously a self-evidently Good goal and not a totally unnecessary one. Not a single moderator came close to articulating the mainstream (in terms of economics, not politics) view that the government doesn't have to balance its budget. (It was not that long ago that the government was running a surplus and conservatives and economists kept saying on the TV that that was a bad thing, right?) Instead, they pressed their guests (usually one Democrat elected official and one Republican elected official) on how "serious" their party's proposals were, with "seriousness" measured in terms of how likely it was that a proposal would get passed by Congress and signed by the president. Alas, neither the Senate Democratic Budget nor the Ryan Budget came close to meeting the Seriousness standard. (Fun fact: The House Progressive Caucus budget does not exist. No one mentioned it on any of the three shows.)

The hip, bespectacled journalist is preparing to take over the covetable 8 p.m. time slot vacated by Ed Schultz's "The Ed Show" — network executives have moved Schultz to Saturday and Sunday evenings. Hayes has hosted "Up With Chris Hayes" since September 2011, and established quite a following in less than two years of carrying a show.

"Chris has done an amazing job creating a franchise on weekend morning," network president Phil Griffin said in a statement. "He’s an extraordinary talent and has made a strong connection with our audience. This is an exciting time for MSNBC."

Griffin is banking on Hayes -- and possible Hayes's morning slot replacement Ezra Klein -- to make MSNBC a household name. Well, a liberal household name, at least. “Our awareness level, people who can define who we are, is much lower than Fox and CNN,” Mr. Griffin told the New York Times. The network president has been building out a brand identity through the steady recruitment of ever-younger, ever-more progressive on-air talent. Of the network's gravitation to the left, former President Bill Clinton remarked, “Boy, it really has become our version of Fox.”

Shortly after the presidential elections, Stuart Stevens managed to alienate many on the Right for assigning blame for Mitt Romney's loss on everything but the campaign itself. When ABC’s chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Stevens about a cover story in the New York Times Magazine asking if the GOP has a technology problem -- and Stevens' own campaign Twitter aversion -- the former strategist stayed the course, saying:

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/sunday_morning_show_roundup_on_the_gops_twitter_problem_hagel_immigration_and_political_scrum/feed/5Sunday Show roundup: LaPierre gets called “ridiculous”http://www.salon.com/2013/02/03/sunday_show_roundup_lapierre_gets_called_ridiculous/
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/03/sunday_show_roundup_lapierre_gets_called_ridiculous/#commentsSun, 03 Feb 2013 18:25:00 +0000AlexSeitzWaldhttp://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13189552The last time NRA head Wayne LaPierre went on the Sunday morning political talk shows, he asked people who disagreed with him to call him “crazy.” This time, he was being called “ridiculous,” and by Fox’s Chris Wallace.

On “Fox News Sunday” today, Wallace pressed LaPierre on if he regretted running an NRA ad that made an issue out of the Secret Service protection provided to President Obama’s two daughters. The ad, which suggested the president was hypocritical for protecting his kids while opposing the NRA’s plan to put armed guards in every school, was widely viewed as reprehensible, and even the NRA’s top lobbyist acknowledged it was probably “ill-advised.”

But LaPierre stood by the ad’s message today, telling Wallace that every child is in danger in schools. Wallace noted that Obama’s children “face a threat that most children do not face.” “Tell that to the people in Newtown," LaPierre responded.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/02/03/sunday_show_roundup_lapierre_gets_called_ridiculous/feed/33Sunday morning show rounduphttp://www.salon.com/2013/01/06/sunday_morning_show_roundup/
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/06/sunday_morning_show_roundup/#commentsSun, 06 Jan 2013 18:30:00 +0000pguptahttp://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13163086Conversations about the debt ceiling and gun control continued to dominate this week's Sunday political talk shows, as they no doubt will for the coming weeks. Details from the shows, below:

Debt Ceiling

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for a reexamination of U.S. tax codes, citing taxes as a source of untapped revenue. The Democratic congresswoman said on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “We’re talking about looking at the tax code, closing loopholes and special subsidies for Big Oil – that’s $38 billion right there.”

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued that "the tax issue is over." "Well, it certainly underscores the voracious appetite for more taxes on the other side. The tax issue is over. We resolved that a few days ago," McConnell said on the same program. Instead, McConnell is focused on "our spending addiction," as he said on ABC's "This Week."

]]>http://www.salon.com/2013/01/06/sunday_morning_show_roundup/feed/12Sunday show roundup: Obama braces for impacthttp://www.salon.com/2012/12/30/sunday_show_roundup_obama_braces_for_impact/
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/30/sunday_show_roundup_obama_braces_for_impact/#commentsSun, 30 Dec 2012 17:45:00 +0000AlexSeitzWaldhttp://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13157812In clearest sign yet that President Obama has abandoned hope of averting the so-called fiscal cliff in the next 48 hours, he used a rare-Sunday show appearance to come out swinging at Republicans, something he’s so far avoided doing so as to not poison relations with his negotiating partners.

On “Meet the Press” today, all pretense was gone and diplomacy jettisoned as Obama placed the blame for a potential cliff dive squarely on Republican intransigence. “The only thing I would caution against, David, is I think this notion of, ‘Well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate.’ And that's just not true,” Obama told host David Gregory.

“I mean if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the Democratic Party, warts and all, and certainly me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first,” he added, paraphrasing John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign slogan. The clear implication: Republicans have not put country first, prioritizing ideology instead.

]]>http://www.salon.com/2012/12/30/sunday_show_roundup_obama_braces_for_impact/feed/83Sunday show roundup: LaPierre wants you to call him crazyhttp://www.salon.com/2012/12/23/sunday_show_roundup_lapierre_wants_you_to_call_him_crazy/
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/23/sunday_show_roundup_lapierre_wants_you_to_call_him_crazy/#commentsSun, 23 Dec 2012 16:40:00 +0000AlexSeitzWaldhttp://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13153773NRA head Wayne LaPierre finally had his chance to “Meet the Press” after refusing to take questions at his Friday press conference, and he used the opportunity to invite the world to call him crazy. "If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” he told the NBC show’s host David Gregory. The conservative New York Post had no problem going there, slapping LaPierre on its cover Saturday under the blaring headline, “GUN NUT! NRA loon in bizarre rant over Newtown.”

“It's the one thing that would keep people safe,” LaPierre continued of his plan, “I said what I honestly thought and...what hundreds of millions of people all over this country believe will actually make a difference." All the evidence available suggests putting armed guns in school is actually not a particularly effective idea (there was an armed Sheriff’s deputy in Columbine High School on the day of the shooting, for instance).

]]>http://www.salon.com/2012/12/23/sunday_show_roundup_lapierre_wants_you_to_call_him_crazy/feed/16Hack List No. 4: The Sunday Showshttp://www.salon.com/2012/12/20/hack_list_no_4_the_sunday_shows/
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/20/hack_list_no_4_the_sunday_shows/#commentsThu, 20 Dec 2012 17:15:00 +0000Alex Pareenehttp://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13150165This year, my annual list of the worst of political media highlights not just individuals, but the institutions that enable those individuals. The 2012 Hack List will be counting down the 10 media outlets that are hurting America over the next two days -- stay tuned! (Previous Hack List entries here, here and here.)

Every Sunday morning, the big four broadcast networks all air their FCC-mandated "public affairs" programming, which consists of a host (a white guy) interviewing the same dozen lawmakers, journalists and pundits in a rotating order. The lawmakers are usually not the most powerful members of Congress -- often they're somewhat marginal figures in terms of influence, in fact -- and the pundits and journalists all generally share the same, or very similar, worldviews. The only people I actually know who watch these things do so out of professional obligation.